General utility hanging bracket



E. 0. WHITE GENERAL UTILITY HANGING BRACKET Filed Sept. 29, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 6,1935 E. 0. WHITE 2,010,283

GENERAL UTILITY HANGING BRACKET Filed Sept. 29, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GENERAL UTILITY HANGING BRACKET Eugene 0. White, Rochester, N. Y. Application September 29,1932, Serial No. 635,444

2 Claims. (01. 248214) My present invention relates to supports and more particularly to hanging brackets, and it has for its object to provide a simple and convenient bracket of this character which will be of general utility in supporting objects at different heights and which may be quickly but securely engaged with a variety of fixtures of diiierent configurations accordingly as they are mostavailable or convenient of access in the particular emergency. The improvements are directed in part toward means for changing the elevation of the supported article to a nicety without disengaging or changing the position of the bracket itself and toward features of foldability, whereby the device may be collapsed to a compact condition for transportation and storage purposes.

To these and other ends, the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the' novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hanging bracket constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention, the same being shown in operative position upon an improvised support;

Fig. 2 is an enlargement of a portion of the showing of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the bracket as it appears in Fig. 2 and on the same scale;

Fig. 4 is a further enlarged front view of the two upper links of the jointed bracket handle, detached;

Fig, 5 is a still further enlarged section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the bracket head taken from the side opposite to that of Figs. 1 and 2; i

Fig. 7 is a top view on the scale of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side View of the head with one of the cover plates of the spring balance casing removed;

Fig. 9 is a front view of the winding drum detached, and

Fig. 10 is a cross section taken on the line I0I0 of Fig. 6.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

Of course, it is immaterial to this invention what the nature of the article is that is suspended by the bracket, but to give a better general idea of the aims of the invention, it will be of interest to explain that the device illustrated in the drawings as an embodiment thereof was designed for the purpose of supporting reservoirs or containers such as are used by morticians for flowing embalming fluid under the gravity system of hydrostatic injection. A suspended container of a nature used for such purposes is indicated at A in Fig. l of the drawings and a particular construction thereof is described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 635,443, filed September 29, 1932. Such an embalming fluid container in that particular work is suspended at a suitable elevation to impart the desired pressure to a column of fluid drained therefrom through a suitable injection tube. The work is done in various environments and the supports available usually consist of doors, door casings, moldings, articles of furniture, et cetera. My improved bracket is devised with characteristics and capabilities whereby it may be quickly and securely attached to any of these, and again referring more particularly to the drawings, it embodies in the present instance a head I having arms 2 and 3 projecting therefrom in opposite directions with an intermediate pivoted link or eye 4. Through the medium of the latter, the device may be hung on a hook or nail; the arm 2 is in the form of a hook that may be engaged over an ordinary wall molding,

such as that indicated at M in Fig. 1, while the arm 3 is longer and provided with a sharp spur 5, enabling it to grip the top of the cornice, door, door frame or the like. Below these arms, the head of the bracket forms a casing 6 having cover plates 1 on opposite sides secured by screws 8. On one of these cover plates I is secured by a wing nut 9 a presser foot Ill having a slotted shank I I that is thereby rendered directionally reversible and also extensible and retractable. In Fig. 1, adjusted to bear against the wall W, carrying the molding M, before referred to, said presser foot holds the head upright while the hook 2 engaging over the molding supports it. In Fig. 6, the presser foot is reversed to similarly coact with the supporting arm 3, by engaging a side surface although the arm is not shown engaged with a support.

As a means for enabling the user, without the aid of a chair or ladder, to engage the head over the molding M, for instance, it is fitted with a detachable and reversible handle, indicated generally at I2, and consisting, in the present instance, of three pivoted links I3, I4 and I5, which may be folded together when the device is not in use to render the handle compact and adapted to be carried in a small handbag or in the pocket, together with the head I. The upper link I3 terminates in a flat portion I6 with an adjacent shoulder ll and provided with a slotted eye is whereby it may be secured to the corner of casing 6 by one or another of two clamping thumb nuts I9 threaded upon posts 2%, with which latter the slotted eye is engaged. There is such a post on each side of the casing, as shown, and the handle is attached selectively to the one on the side of the particular arm 2 or 3 that is in use or to be used, the idea being that it shall depend from the inside next adjacent to the wall and stablish a center of gravity that will tend least to cause accidental disengagement of the head.

The top and bottom links or sections l3 and I5 are in the form of yokes, the inner ends of the arms of which. are connected by pintles 2i surrounded by coiled springs 22, while the intermediate section it consists of a pair of arms adapted to turn on the pintles and having the said springs comprised between them. When the handle is extended and operative, pins 23 on the arms I take into corresponding openings in the yo-kes i3 and iii adjacent to the pintles and lock the parts rigidly together in a straight line, whereas by squeezing arms 14 together and compressing the spring the pins are disengagedand the sections may be folded.

The casing contains a shaft 2 (Figs. 8 and 1G) shouldered and secured in the cover plates l by a nut 25 at one end and by the same wing nut 9 at the other that secures the adjustable foo-t iii in place, the latter being engaged upon the threaded projecting end of the shaft. Turning on this shaft within the casing is a drum or pulley 26 in the manner of an ordinary spring sash balance, such drum being hollow or provided with a cavity on one side in which is housed a clock spring 2'! having one end attached thereto and the other to the shaft. Projecting from the open side of the drum at its periphery is a series of stop lugs 23, one of which is normally engaged by a sliding stop plate 29 guided in a groove in the casing 6 in which it is held by the adjacent cover plate 7. A pin on the stop plate projects through a slot 3! in the cover vplate and has fastened thereto one end of a spring 32, the other end of which is secured to the shaft 24 to normally hold the stop plate in engagement with one of the stops 28 on the drum. Secured to an eye in the lower end of the stop plate is a cord or cable 33 that runs through guides 34 in the links of the handle 12 and terminates in a ring 35 at the lower end or at a point conveniently accessible to the user. Another suspension cable 36 is wound on the drum 25 passing out through an opening 3? in the bottom of the casing and terminating in a ring 38 that is engaged by a hook 39 on the container A or other article to be supported.

The operation of the device will be apparent from the above description. The tendency of the suspending cable 36 being to wind upon the spring drum but the stop plate 29 normally operating to lock the latter, the article A may be freely raised and lowered while drawing on the pull cord 33 to hold the said stop out and when the desired elevation is reached, releasing the pull cord restores the stop and prevents the drum from turning in either direction, particularly the one in which the weight of the article will unwind the cable 36.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a general utility hanging bracket of the character described, the combination with a head piece embodying directionally oppositely disposed support engaging members having different characteristics of adaptability, of an adjustable and reversible foot on the head adapted to be selectively thrown into engagement with a vertical face of such support in connection with the use of either support engaging member.

2. In a general utility hangin bracket of the character described, the combination with a head piece embodying directionally oppositely disposed support engaging members having different characteristics of adaptability, of a depending handle for the head, and means for attaching said handle selectively on the side of either of the support engaging members.

EUGENE 0. WHITE. 

